Risk & Insurance articles from November 2008

Risk & Insurance archives from November 2008

My lesson in unknown unknowns.
November 1, 2008... In 1998 I was working for a banking trade publication in New York. While I was working in physical proximity to Wall Street, I wasn't working in the metaphysical place known as Wall Street, the term used for folks involved in buying and selling...

Lloyd's profits down.(NEWS & NOTES)(Financial report)
November 1, 2008... Lloyd's pretax profits in the first half of 2008 fell by 47 percent compared to last year, according to the insurer's interim report. Pretax profits for the period ending June 30, 2008 totaled 949 million [pounds sterling] ($1.88 billion),...

Stations survive Ike.(NEWS & NOTES)
November 1, 2008... Hurricane Ike failed to knock out new hardened weather stations while 10 of the 11 National Weather Service stations failed, according to Risk Management Solutions and WeatherFlow. The new stations successfully recorded wind speeds at seven...

Site helps consumers.(NEWS & NOTES)(Website overview)
November 1, 2008... A new Web site dedicated to helping consumers understand multiple lines of insurance has been created by the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Society. Located at insurancehelp.cpcusociety.org, the site will also contain cost-saving and...

Salary data released.(NEWS & NOTES)
November 1, 2008... The Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. has released a salary survey of risk management positions at U.S.-based companies. The survey found the average base salary for a chief risk officer or vice president of risk management is...

CA comp bills vetoed.(NEWS & NOTES)
November 1, 2008... Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed two bills that would have modified workers' comp legislation, with one increasing permanent disability payments and the other adding various qualifications to apportionment calculations. Supporters said the...

Modeling tool created.(NEWS & NOTES)
November 1, 2008... Benfield launched a modeling tool that allows reinsurers to better quantify their risks in line with rating agency and solvency requirements. Developed by Benfield's ReMetrics team, the Curve for Risk Analysis Fitting tool, or CRAFT, enables...

Automating the pharmacy.(WORKERS' COMP)
November 1, 2008... Pharmacy benefits management service providers play an important intermediary role between the tens of thousands of pharmacies and the workers' comp insurance and managed care industry. It would not be efficient, much less possible, for every...

Workers' comp and CAT models.(WORKERS' COMP)
November 1, 2008... When you think of catastrophe models, you typically think property exposure. But you've got to think workers' comp as well. After all, earthquakes and terrorist attacks do not give a moment's warning. Should one occur on Tuesday morning at...

The emergence of TCM.(TECHNOLOGY)
November 1, 2008... What do you get when you put together enterprise content management and business process management technologies into a single platform? It's called transactional content management, and here's a chance to get familiar with it. To read the...

Zeller's last stand in Monte Carlo.(REINSURANCE)
November 1, 2008... In all likelihood, this was Wilhelm Zeller's final Rendez-Vous de Septembre as the CEO of Hannover Re, as he confirmed that he would be leaving the company on June 30 of next year. We thus bid him auf wiedersehen. To read the rest of this...

Construction data sheets.(INDUSTRY RISK REPORT)
November 1, 2008... Access a variety of construction data sheets from FM Global's free repository, from any location worldwide, and then download the content. To access these resources, please visit us on the Web at...

Safety and insurance for construction projects.(INDUSTRY RISK REPORT)
November 1, 2008... Risk managers are typically used to dealing with insurance on completed structures. Construction projects are different. Specialized insurance and loss-control solutions must be brought to bear. To read the rest of this piece from E.G....

Quote of the month.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
November 1, 2008... "There are many who predict if you don't build green, your building will be functionally obsolete.

Ike economic losses could reach $40 billion: Hurricane Ike, coming in as the fourth most expensive hurricane in history, keeps thousands of adjusters busy.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from the Around the World)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hurricane Ike could have caused an estimated $9.8 billion in insured losses, according to the Insurance Information Institute. ISO's Property Claims Service put out its own preliminary estimate for insured...

Data breaches increase: not only are data breaches increasing, but the number of viruses being created every day is just exploding.(UPFRONT)
November 1, 2008... From a statistical standpoint, if your company hasn't yet had a technology security breach or had at least one employee or client victimized by identity theft, you can rest assured that you are going to face one event or the other and probably...

Casualty reinsurance experts warn of terms of entanglement: as risks stretch across an entire reinsurance portfolio, it's easier for one risk to affect another unrelated risk in another part of the portfolio.(UPFRONT)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If there's a silver lining in a property-catastrophe risk, it's that the risks are relatively cut and dried and the numbers--while at times staggering--are fairly clear. Reinsurers may not be happy about receiving a...

Quote of the month.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)
November 1, 2008... "There is a certain level of mistrust that you have to overcome."--PATRICK JEWELL, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, TRIBAL INSURANCE SERVICES

Going tribal: Beecher Carlson's new subsidiary boasts an expertise in Tribal community risk management.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Patrick Jewell's got "street cred." Lots of it. When it comes to understanding Tribal hospitality and gaming, tribal ordinances and insurance claims advocacy, invoking sovereign immunity, and Tribal judiciary...

Lockton.(BROKER MOVES)
November 1, 2008... BRIAN NEARY has joined Lockton in Washington, D.C., as a vice president and producer in the firm's employee benefits consulting practice. Prior to joining Lockton, Neary was a worldwide partner for Mercer Health & Benefits, serving as a senior...

Beecher Carlson.(BROKER MOVES)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Beecher Carlson appointed CRAIG NELSON as senior vice president focusing on accounts in the retail industry from the firm's Denver office. Prior to joining Beecher Carlson, Nelson held executive positions at Lockton...

Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.(BROKER MOVES)
November 1, 2008... Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., parent company of the insurance broker, has appointed ERICK GUSTAFSON as director of government relations, a new position reporting to Peter Beshar, executive vice president and general counsel. Gustafson was senior...

Marsh.(BROKER MOVES)
November 1, 2008... Marsh appointed WILLIAM B. DIAZ as head of Marsh Client Technologies, a newly formed unit that comprises MarshConnect, the firm's global client technology interface, and CS STARS, a provider of risk and claims management systems. Diaz has been...

Willis Re.(BROKER MOVES)
November 1, 2008... Willis Re, the reinsurance arm of global broker Willis Group Holdings announced ROWAN DOUGLAS, managing director of Willis Re Analytics and chairman of the Willis Research Network, has been appointed to the Natural Environment Research Council...

Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc.(BROKER MOVES)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc. hired ALAN BORING as a senior vice president and sales executive in the Southern California region specializing in upper middle market and large risk management accounts, with an...

This recession's silver lining.(WORKERS' COMP)
November 1, 2008... Today the financial sector faces distress, which is spreading outward and bringing on worsening recession. What does this all mean to the workers' compensation system? The short answer, to a question that concerns us most, is that our jobs...

Off with those caps!(ROGER ON RISK)
November 1, 2008... Seconds ago, as I sat down to write a column about reinstatement premiums in the African nation of Gabon, a deal was announced on the bailout package that will save America from bankruptcy. I have not had time to look at the final document....

A near miss.(BROKERAGE)
November 1, 2008... Sometimes I feel I've spent the better part of my professional career lamenting the pathetic state of insurance industry relations with its various publics. Wait a minute, I have. And here I go again. In recent months, the Jets and the...

Playing the mortgage Jenga.(RISK MANAGEMENT)
November 1, 2008... Jenga[R], "the unpredictable, quick playing, tower-building game that combines suspense and risk-taking, where mounting anticipation comes to a crashing climax." Step one: Take wooden block from the tower base and place it gently on top. Hold...

Attorney-client privilege saved.(THE LAW)
November 1, 2008... Congress has finally acted to prevent the premature death of the attorney-client privilege. More specifically, it has fixed the mystery of what happens when a party mistakenly discloses privileged information. The attorney-client privilege is a...

From innovation to exploitation.(RISK INNOVATION)
November 1, 2008... An interesting aspect of the recent financial market chaos is how innovation plays into the facts. While arguably simply bad lending behavior was at the core of the problem, increasingly complex (i.e innovative) financial instruments such as...

The textbook on workers' comp: Los Angeles' Unified School District turns around its workers' comp and disability management programs, and wins a 2008 Theodore Roosevelt Workers' Comp and Disability Award.(Cover story)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summary * When Dave Holmquist arrived at LAUSD as the risk manager in 2003, the workers' comp landscape immediately began to change for the better. * The efforts of Holmquist and Dawn Watkins, director of...

Mayo's many healthy returns: through its various programs, the Mayo Clinic's return to work section realized an $840,000 cost savings to the clinic in 2007.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Giving back" is a hallmark of the workers' compensation and disability management system at Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic. Jane Ryan, section head of the system's return to work activities, is a prime...

In a house of service: Marriott International offers proof that taking care of employees injured on the job and keeping claims in-house is the best way to take care of customers.(COVER STORY)
November 1, 2008... Summary * Marriott Intl. has kept its claims management in-house and intends to keep it that way. * Attorneys were involved in only 3.77 percent of workers' comp claims in 2007, compared with 5 percent to 10 percent in other parts of...

Waging a tough fight: staffing company Spherion Corp. takes rehabilitated workers injured on the job and places them on light duty. The incentive? Making sure they earn more than if they were on indemnity.(COVER STORY)
November 1, 2008... Summary * Using claims monitoring software, staffing company Spherion can track not only the job locations that are generating the most losses, but also which of its own offices might need bolstering in their safety program. *...

Battening down the hatches: Oregon-based maker of doors and windows seals its hiring practices with integrity tests.
November 1, 2008... For a rapidly growing company, Klamath Falls, Oregon-based JELD-WEN Inc. has a remarkably comprehensive and sophisticated workers' compensation and disability management program. Starting in 1960 with a handful of employees the company has...

Spilling comp secrets of the treasury: the U.S. Treasury Department has experienced a 66 percent decline in the rate of injuries and illnesses from 2003 to 2007.(COVER STORY)
November 1, 2008... Summary * A focus on automation and safety help the U.S. Treasury Dept. decrease injuries by 66 percent over a four-year period. * The agency includes safety and health commitment in strategic plan for buy-in * Employees'...

Warming to an offshore breeze: are workers' compensation professionals more willing to outsource or offshore claims management? They are, a survey of compensation and disability claims specialists shows.(WORKERS' COMP)
November 1, 2008... Summary * Of the 20 claims processes identified, only three showed a decreased enthusiasm for offshoring from survey respondents: underwriting, loss control and surveillance/investigation. * The claims functions with the greatest jump...

Safety on the set: some production companies in Hollywood appear to finally be getting the message about safety on the set. Yet far too many unnecessary injuries, some of them catastrophic, occur when producers run up against time, money and power.(WORKERS' COMP)
November 1, 2008... Summary * The injuries on television and film sets can be as horrific as any worksite, from brain trauma to cracked spines and severed fingers. * OSHA will fine production companies when appropriate for workplace safety violations, but...

The cost variations: expenses and awards are important considerations for employers, particularly in a tough economy. A recent survey found that workers' comp costs vary widely from one state to the next.(WORKERS' COMP)
November 1, 2008... Summary * For employers, Arizona's the best place to do business from a workers' comp and disability perspective. * Among the top 10 states for employers to do business, five are located in the Midwest. * The reduction in claims...

Return to Vegas, return to work: with an amendment to the ADA taking effect in a couple months and a changing regulatory landscape, legal issues and return-to-work will be the hottest session tracks in Las Vegas.(WORKERS' COMP)
November 1, 2008... Summary * Seven sessions on return-to-work and safety. * Five sessions on legal and regulatory issues. ********** [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There's much to discuss and learn at the 17th Annual National Workers' Compensation...

Exposing hospitals' forgotten liability: why some hospitals choose not to book incurred-but-not-reported workers' comp claims and alternative strategies for reporting the liability.(LIABILITY)
November 1, 2008... Summary * Hospitals continue to overlook incurred-but-not-reported workers' comp claims. * On average, $99.44 of IBNR is needed for every $100 of known case reserves when a hospital retains $1,000,000 per occurrence. Only $2.79 of the...

Banking on a health e-ticket: in the push for a health care information exchange, one Pennsylvania-based vendor says it breaks new ground by tying together all the parties to a health care transaction.(TECHNOLOGY)
November 1, 2008... Summary * With the electronic health ticket, insurers have the option of plugging into a virtual network of about a hundred PPOs. * VIIAD helps small local and regional PPOs become part of a much larger network to take advantage of...

On the trail of e-mail: carriers and brokers are tempted by registered e-mail services as a way of going paperless and managing the risks of standard e-mail.(TECHNOLOGY)
November 1, 2008... Summary * Registered e-mail services give court litigants a leg to stand on. * Some electronic registered mail services are simple and easy to use. * In some cases, they have cut down on paper and mail costs by as much as 60...

Carriers' chronic burden: about 5 percent of lost-time claimants have a significant chronic pain problem, but their claims account for about 30 percent of all lost-time claims payments in the first year alone.(IN-DEPTH)
November 1, 2008... Summary * The rise of chronic pain care has staggered the workers' comp system, unsettling claimants, doctors, insurers and regulators. * At least one-third of total claims costs incurred for lost-time claims are pain-related, and...

Watch your back! Obesity and long hours behind the wheel can both play havoc with your spine.(SPECIAL REPORT: DISABILITY MANAGEMENT)
November 1, 2008... Summary * Offices designed to discourage sedentary activities and encourage more standing can be retooled for as little as $5 per square foot. * According to ergonomists, employers should target two areas--prolonged, static postures...

Absorbing the cost of absence: small and midsize businesses needn't be laggards in the search for competent disability or absence management services.(SPECIAL REPORT: DISABILITY MANAGEMENT)
November 1, 2008... Summary * Small and midsize business can go a long way to improving the management of disability claims by taking four small steps, collect, review, analyze and benchmark all of their available absence management data. * As of 2005,...

Green light, red light: construction is going green, with buildings that are designed to use less energy, conserve water and lower carbon emissions. While the environmental benefits are clear, there may be some unforeseen risk when the roof of the building is a lawn.(INDUSTRY RISK REPORT)
November 1, 2008... Summary * With the government pushing to adopt greener standards, there is a lot more at stake for the real estate and construction industries. * Builders could find themselves embroiled in more litigation for noncompliance in disputes...

Industry risk report: construction.
November 1, 2008... INDUSTRY RISK REPORT CONSTRUCTION Construction work is inherently litigious. Even the smallest contractors and subcontractors end up in court with one another fairly frequently over the terms of construction contracts. When applied to...

Transparency in a time of crisis: desperate times call for not-so-desperate measures. TPAs must begin to practice pricing transparency if they haven't already.(VIEWPOINT)
November 1, 2008... In the wake of the financial crisis and volatility in the markets, I hear no shortage of speculation on just how our economy got here. Theories on root causes and blame abound, with some of the best minds in business unable to agree on just...